In a small corner room on the second floor of the Philadelphia Museum of Art–room 296 to be exact–you will uncover an eerie treasure. The museum has a collection of eye miniatures from the late 18th century, which are painted on pins, lockets and rings. Supposedly, these miniatures originally derived from one painter who was paid on commission to paint an eye portrait (?) as a present for her fiancĂ©, who also happened to be a prince. In return, this guy had his eye painted for her and set it into a ring. The eye miniature became the thing to do for a while during the late 1700s in France and in England. The objects on display are beautiful and a little creepy.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-763-8100
